Watch out for the sleeping cat!
!
Are you the type of person who enjoys a little fur on your furniture? Can’t nestle in for a good night’s sleep without the soothing sensation of cat hair on your comforter? Well you’re in luck! Especially if you’re planning a trip to Best Friends. After roughly eight zillion requests and years of anticipation, the first ever cat sleepover program has officially begun!
Actually, technically this isn’t the very first cat sleepover program. For a long while, there have been cats down at the laundromat for the Best Friends cottages who go on sleepovers to the rooms. Think it’s hard to book one of the cottages at Best Friends? Try booking K.C. the cat! K.C. was getting overworked.
Now it’s time to open up the opportunity to the rest of the cats at the sanctuary. The main concern with cat sleepovers all along has been that cats can be so good at escaping. Still, it was hard to deny them a chance at sleepovers. After all, dogs have been going on sleepovers with visitors at Best Friends for years, and as well as being fun for them, it’s helped so many of them get adopted.
There simply had to be a way to let the cats in on this.
After careful planning and consideration, that time has finally come. For starters, it won’t be every cat at the sanctuary who can go on sleepovers. They have to have the right personality—cats who don’t like springing at an open door for one thing. Also, volunteers will be armed with lots of tips and hints to make sure the cats never get outside. (One requirement is that the people stay in the room with the cat all night.)
With everything in place, the only thing left to do was a trial run. Cats Apollo and Teela were the first brave volunteers. As for the first people, friends Cyndi Pearce and Sherri Orner from North Carolina took up the challenge. Sherri is the director of a cat humane society back home, and has been a long-time volunteer at Best Friends. Together they seemed like the perfect folks to try out the program.
And -- drum roll, please -- it was a resounding success! The cats were perfect, and Sherri and Cyndi had a great time too. They even caught some goofy antics on video. With that glowing field report, then, it’s time to kick off the new program officially.
So, ladies and gentlemen, pack your suitcases and bring your fuzzy mice. It’s show time!
Story by David Dickson
Photo by Sarah Ause
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